Think It’s Food? The Hidden Reason You’re Still Bloated – Even on a Perfect Diet.

What if the bloating isn’t about food at all?  Chronic gut issues often have nothing to do with what’s on your plate.  The gut isn’t just a passive tube. It’s a dynamic, coordinated system that moves food, gases, and fluids forward smoothly.When that system slows down (even slightly), it can cause:

• Gas buildup

• Pressure

• Bloating

• Early fullness

  
  

Causes of slow gut motility include:

• Stress (gut-brain axis dysfunction)

• Low thyroid function

• Post-infectious nerve damage

• Subtle autonomic nervous system imbalances

Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)

SIBO occurs when bacteria that should stay in the colon overgrow into the small intestine. Here, they ferment even healthy foods — fibers, vegetables, even simple proteins — producing gas in the wrong place.

Symptoms often include:

• Bloating (especially within 1–2 hours after eating)

• Gas

• Abdominal pressure

• Sometimes constipation or diarrhoea

Translation: It’s not the food’s fault — it’s where and how it’s being fermented.

 Histamine Overload

Histamine is a natural chemical involved in immune function, digestion, and neurotransmission. But when the gut lining is inflamed or the body can't break histamine down efficiently, eating even healthy foods can trigger:

• Bloating

• Cramping

• Flushing

• Heart palpitations

  
  

High-histamine foods include:

• Aged cheeses

• Fermented foods

• Tomatoes

• Avocados

• Spinach

• Wine

 Translation: The problem may be cumulative histamine burden, not a specific food intolerance.

 Nervous System Dysregulation (Gut-Brain Axis Issues)

Chronic stress doesn’t just affect your mind — it physically affects your gut:

• Decreases blood flow to the intestines

• Inhibits digestion

• Alters gut motility

• Sensitises the nerves in your intestines

The result? Bloating, even without any “bad food” involved.

Translation: Calm the nervous system = calm the gut.

What This Means for You

If you’re still bloated despite a clean, restrictive, or ultra-healthy diet, you don’t need to “clean up your eating” even more. You need to go deeper — to how your gut is functioning.

At Able Bodied Health Care & Chiropractic, we specialise in uncovering hidden contributors to bloating that standard approaches miss. We look at:

• Motility

• Microbiome balance

• Histamine load

• Stress and nervous system health

• Underlying inflammatory patterns

Because health is about restoration, not just restriction.

Ready to Find the Real Cause of Your Bloating?

We offer personalised gut health programs rooted in Lifestyle Medicine and Functional Diagnostics. Lifestyle Medicine reveals the  powerful gut-brain connection – helping you finally reclaim your health from the inside-out.  Join our gut reset program.  Schedule an appointment today!